The Shadows Beside Her
by HappyTerrier
Summary: Most first years come to Hogwarts ready to make friends and learn magic. While Ginny Weasley does hope for that, her biggest plans are to discover who killed two of her brothers, Ron and Percy, and to find away to free her friend Tom from the diary he is trapped in. In her quest for answers, she will discover the truth is better left unknown.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling does.**

Chapter 1:

 _"Mum, why can't I go to Hogwarts." While her daughter Ginny cried after her brothers left to board the Hogwart's Express, Mrs. Weasley's attention lingered on her youngest son Ron who currently waved goodbye from the edge of the train's platform. Pulling her arm, Ginny cried again, "Mum! Why can't I?"_

 _Turning to her daughter, she said gently, "Because dear, you're not old enough. You would be barely able to control you're magic."_

 _As her daughter cried some more, Mrs. Weasley looked longingly at the train. All her boys were now out of the house to work, to learn, to make friends, to become people that would change the world. It made her sad that her daughter would eventually move away from her too. A year really was not that long. "Do you really want me to face that one year early?"_

 _"No!" Ginny grinned. "I want you to come too. The whole family at Hogwarts!"_

 _Mrs. Weasley grinned her pink lips and playfully tickled her little girl's chin. "Hmm. Should I or should I not become a professor? I certainly know how to handle uncontrollable kids and have a knack at making them do work when they rather play chess or go off frolicking in the woods."_

 _"You be the best teacher ever!"_

 _Mrs. Weasley moved to hug her, brightened by her lovely assertion, when a whistle sounded from the train. Ginny squirmed under her arms and she quickly rushed away, her lovely red hair blasting everywhere. The thought of losing her child overwhelmed her as she watched her little girl run after the moving train. Luckily, Ginny lost her energy after awhile and Mrs. Weasely was able to find her in the crowd easily. As the train became a faint orange shadow, Ginny clutched her shoulders. Mrs. Weasley swooped her into a hug as she weeped._

 _One more year and there would be no one to hold at this moment._

* * *

Sometimes Ginny Weasley thought her life was a never-ending cycle of death.

Once a year, her mother had held a family dinner in remembrance of two of her uncles, Fabian and Gideon Prewett, who were killed shorty after Ginny was born.

The first time she experienced death head on was when she was nice and learned about how the mother of her dearest friend, Pandora Lovegood, died from an experiment accident. She still remembered Luna running into her room late at night to tell her the terrible news.

The next time was just last year when her mother told her to wait outside while she used the loo after they dropped four of her older brothers for Hogwarts. Her mother never emerged out alive. Some muggle had sliced her neck with some weapon and plunged her face in a toilet full of her own shit.

That very day her father also arrived at the muggle Auror (polix?) station to tell her how how her youngest brother, Ron, was killed during his first train ride. Someone had not only killed him, but also poked out his eyes and crunched them horribly with what must have been a shoe. Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic blamed the death on Peter Pettigrew - a man long thought dead- because some unnamed individual stunned him in the compartment.

The final time as far as Ginny could know in the present day occurred last October. It occurred right after Ginny experienced a tiny moment of hope. Her brother had sent a letter to her father announcing he was on the verge of discovering Ron's killer. He, like Ginny, believe that some former You-Know-Who follower worked with Pettigrew to kill her brother and then stunned Pettigrew for someone for the Aurors to blame.

Her father had sighed sorrowfully in disbelief. He had found it ludicrous that someone besides Pettigrew killed Ron. All he wanted was to just forget the deaths that Ginny knew took up his every moment. Even after Headmaster Dumbledore told him, Ginny and her siblings about Percy's death, her father, along with her brothers, still believed that no one else was involved in Ron's murder. They all agreed, as the school did, that Percy foolishly ventured into a forbidden room where the three-headed dog had devoured him.

It was outrageous how her whole family believed that her rule-following brother would ever do something like that without a purpose. Whoever killed Ron, killed Percy through locking him up in the room with that beast. Ginny was sure of it.

For one long year, Ginny had to face her conviction alone. Struggling to not feel lonely surrounded by people who did not care to look further into the deaths of her brothers. Pretending to read her favorite storybooks about Harry Potter while she instead read over and over the pitifully few newspaper articles on Ron and Percy's deaths.

The day after Percy's funeral, her father had sold the Burrow. He needed distance from any reminders of their past. Ginny spent the whole visit crying the one-time Ginny saw Luna before she left. Afterwards, her friend stopped answering any of her letters and refused any visits.

Sometimes Ginny wondered if she deserved Luna's distance. She did leave Luna behind after the girl's mother died, finding her friend's new, bonkers outlook too disturbing. She had failed to help her friend deal with death and, as it was only fair, she had to face the consequences.

For a while Ginny believed she would suffer alone indefinitely. That only changed when Ginny recently found someone who was as sure as her. Tom.

It was hard to imagine it had only been a few weeks since Ginny met Tom. He was such a constant presence now. He emerged somehow amidst her schoolbooks the night after her family went to Diagon Alley. A diary among many blamed and far too costly books. He had listened to her story and told her his. His story of being trapped in the diary by some Gryffindor wizard named Edgar Fawley. He had given her plan on how to survive her time at Hogwarts as she hunted for her brothers' killer.

The first step was to be sorted into a house with the most docile reputation. She needed a house that would help her gain a good reputation. A house not hated by other houses. Tom had been in Slytherin and discovered the hard way the that the house caused his dreary end. The house's reputation had made Tom weak against the popular and manipulative Fawley who had ruined his tenure as Head Boy. His rival had made sure all students in Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor campaigned against any of Tom's initiates.

Unfortunately, the Sorting Hat was taking forever to sort her.

"Dear Ginerva, all good things happen to those who wait," the Sorting Hat sighed. "You don't know how fascinating it is to find someone tainted so young. So much sorrow in one eleven-year-old heart. With your Gryffindor family, I expected to meet another headstrong person eager to fight out in the open. Instead you're a stubborn one who wants to stay hidden while you search of the truth."

Ginny snorted. "You think I'm an idiot? The killer would target me if I talk all about how much I want to find him and don't believe the crap everyone accepts as fact."

"Darling, if the cause of their deaths wanted you dead, you would be dead long before now," the Sorting Hat told her. "Luckily for you, they don't."

Her head began to heat up. "You know who killed them?"

"Yes. Sadly, I'm unable identify likely sociopathic individuals or tell anyone what I hear about in another person's head. I have to speak so carefully, hint so broadly, to be any help. Listen to my words, you're not in any fatal danger from them if you do nothing."

"Just sort me in Hufflepuff. Don't try to convince me to do nothing. I won't. I will find the truth."

"I will once you understand what I'm trying to tell you. They are among the many. They wait..."

Ginny lurched her face forward in alarm, causing the Sorting Hat to fall on the floor.

 _They._ More than one person was involved in her brothers' deaths. Her forehead throbbed as she lowered he head onto her legs. Heaving, she pressed harder into her warm, boney legs, hating how weak she felt. Holding in the urge to yell at the observers laughing at her.

"Miss Weasley, are you all right?" Someone was patting her shoulder. Likely Professor McGonagall, the woman who lead her and the other first years earlier into Hogwart's Great Hall.

Breathing in one last time, Ginny slowly raised her back to sit upright. "Sorry. Nerves."

Professor McGonagall nodded. "It's all right dear. I say I almost puked during my own sorting."

Ginny laughed, a bit amazed at the teacher's forwardness. The twins told her the woman was very stern and not the type to tell students personal information. Maybe the woman saw a bit of herself in Ginny or, more likely, she wanted her to feel better.

The professor handed her the dusty old hat and Ginny placed it again on her head. "So, I've got more than one enemy. That's just _wicked_."

The Sorting Ht laughed before tell her. "Life is fool of too many villains and not enough heroes. I wonder which you will fall into as you grow up in this demented school. Please remember, no matter what you hear, trust Tom. HUFFLEPUFF."

Ginny felt like she was floating on air as she walked over to the Hufflepuff table. The whole table was cheering, some older students were even waving at her. As she lowered into a seat near a pudgy brunette, she noticed the sound of clapping behind her. She turned to find Luna smiling at her as she clapped at the Gryffindor table. For a moment, Ginny could believe that all the pain she suffered the past year did not matter, not when it seemed her old friend wanted to know her again. Next to Luna, a blond boy with a baby face whispered in her ear, taking her friend's attention. On Luna's other side a bushy-haired girl stared strangely at Ginny, mostly because her expressed reminded her faintly of the loving glances her mum used to give her when she thought Ginny was not paying attention. Ginny's heart beaten heavily at the boy next to that girl, Harry Potter, the boy who used to feature her wildest fantasies. He looked just like Fred and George described on the train ride here - messy-haired, laid-back and with the most gorgeous green eyes. Okay, maybe, the gorgeous part was her words.

"Do you know them? Harry Potter?" The pudgy girl next to Ginny asked.

Ginny turned back to the table now full of food. Overflowing plates of meat pies, various sandwiches, fruits and food Ginny could not even name were scattered everywhere. A wide jug of pumpkin juice was placed between every third plate.

"Well, do you know the guy she mentioned?" A blonde girl across from her now asked, reminding Ginny of the pudgy girl's question.

"No," Ginny said. "I don't know him, but I do know the blonde girl two seats from him. She's Luna, one of my oldest friends."

"Lucky. She'll probably introduce you." The pudgy girl pouted.

As she grabbed the jug of pumpkin juice, Ginny said, "Maybe. But I doubt it go well. Just the thought of talking to him makes me nervous."

That was true. She spent too much of her life imagining a future with the hero of the wizarding world. She once though of him as someone to honor and fantasied of him asking her to marry him. She used to write stories where she was always the kidnapped maiden that he rescued or even some where she saved him from the clutches of goblins and pixies. Ginny doubted she would be able to breathe, none the less talk to him. How could she a simple girl compare to a hero like him?

Sure she cared about justice and discovering a mystery, but that could not compare to someone who actually succeeded in defeating a villain.

"I'll probably start laughing like a lunatic," the pudgy girl declared.

"Or start shitting in your pants," the boy next to the pudgy girl teased. He was extremely tall with short blond hair.

The boys next to him laughed loudly at his words. There laughter annoyed Ginny. She was sure it was at the pudgy girl's expense. "No," Ginny snapped. "I think it be you shitting in your pants meeting him, along with puking slugs all over his trousers."

This time she and the two girls near her laughed. After her laugher waned, Ginny told the girls, "Hi, so my name's Ginny, what about you two?"

The pudgy girl smiled gracefully. "Megan Scott."

"Sally Jenkins," the blond girl said. "That was very sweet of you to stand up for Megan like that."

"Well, what are friends for, right?" Ginny grinned. As much as she loved Tom, she knew she needed more friends to stay safe and, hopefully, at some point they would be close enough for them to believe her and help her. Plus, Ginny was tired of being lonely all the time.

Soon the three of them were chatting as they ate their meal and Ginny savored every moment of it. Soon she learned all about Cornwall and living by the sea from Megan and the boring life of muggle London from Sally. Her father would love to question Sally about all the technology she was talking about. Like Ginny, Megan grew up in a wizarding family with many siblings. A few years back, Ginny would have been jealous of the fact Megan only had four siblings and all sisters, but now Ginny longed a bit for her two missing brothers. Unlike her, Megan was a half-blood and deftly scared of flying.

"I had how they wobble and lurch and just having nothing under my feet gives me the willies. That's it." Megan was sharing.

"But, there's also the feeling of being free as the air brushes pass your face and nothing matters in the air and you can just fly up as high as you please. Trust me, Sally, you'll love it."

Sally nodded. "I hope so. It be cool to fly to the top of the Eiffel Tower."

"The what?" Ginny raised her eyebrows, confused by the term.

Sally's eyes widened. "You don't know? Meg? Tell me you do."

Megan shrugged her shoulders. "No clue and don't really care." She was more focused on screaming at the boy next to her, "Don't you dare take the last bowl of pudding."

"What are you going to do about it?" The lanky, blond boy next to Megan snickered.

Smiling sweetly, Ginny reached over Megan to grab the pudding. "If you don't let me and my friend enjoy this, I'll pour it over you. Your choice."

"Listen, princess, I mean, tramp, I don't know who you think you are. I would think with that dreadful robes you're wearing you wouldn't think yourself so important, but I guess that's what happens when a girl looses her mind."

"Zach," someone near him hissed. "I think ..."

"Don't you dare Ernie. My mother spent so much time with that girl last year. She's beyond bonkers from what I read."

The boys near Zach started snickering loudly.

Ginny clenched her teeth and screamed as the side of her neck throbbed. The boy knew somehow. He must have read Healer Smith's notes on her. Oh Merlin, she did mention she had a son in Hufflepuff at Hogwarts. This was beyond awful. She needed to talk to Tom. Her mind hazy, Ginny glanced behind her hoping to see her trunk holding her diary before logic hit in and she remembered she left it on the train for the school's staff to bring to her new dorm.

Dammit. She needed Tom. She needed his advice.

"Is something going on here?" The sound of snickering stopped abruptly.

A warm hand held her arm and she looked up to drift into the bright, grey eyes of a nice-looking boy. "Nothing to worry about. They just have a hard time controlling their symptoms. They're seriously sick after all."

"Aw, poor boys."

"Yeah the scroundral sickness is pretty long-lasting. Some find that it never ends."

Megan snorted. The nice boy just laughed. "Well if you have any more problems feel free to talk to me, I'm Cedric Diggory, fifth-year Prefect."

"Ginny Weasley."

The boys left her and her friends alone after that, greatly aware of Cedric watching them. After the Headmaster's final speech, they joined the other first years, Cedric and another prefect to head to the common room. The boys looked like a nicer lot than the ruffians Ginny, Megan and Sally suffered with. Two of the boys appeared shy, looking down at the ground and one talked at them, not caring one bit about their lack of responses. The five other first-year girls in Hufflepuff seemed to have formed a close-knit circle, talking actively to each other. Ginny was pretty surprised about the amount of girls, Fred and George had told her most houses had five of each gender at most. Guess her year was different.

The walk to the common room was surprisingly short. "The great thing about Hufflepuff," Cedric was explaining. "Is the fact that we are not only the closest to the Great Hall, but we are near the kitchens. One of the best things about being a Hufflepuff first year is the fact we have kitchen runs once every week for us as a group to know each other."

Sounded heavenly. Boy, she was glad Tom suggested Hufflepuff.

"And here's the common room," the female prefect explained, gesturing at a carving of a door. "The password changes on the first of every month. Just check the noticeboard at the end of each month to find out the new password. If you forget, don't worry, all you would need to do is find one of us or learn from a friend."

"This is awesome." Megan whispered to Ginny and Sally. "Hufflepuff's so friendly. Mum was in Ravenclaw and all the prefects did was give directions."

"I know! My family's all in Gryffindor and its like that too." Ginny shook her head. "I've got a feeling we're in the best house at Hogwarts."

Sally nodded in agreement. Ginny noticed she was more focused on checking out the moving portraits.

"The password for this month is mammoth." At Cedric's last word, the carving of the door formed into a door and opened.

After they entered, the girls split from the boys and followed the female prefect up the stairs.

"Its so good we have eight of you." The female prefect smiled. "A nice even number. I know you probably want to room with your friends, but in first year we assign you to your room. In all the other years we are free to split as we choose, but I asked you to sleep in your assign room. Who knows, you might find you like your roommates even if you don't know them yet. We are all friendly in Hufflepuff and I hope you all want to continue the camaraderie our house is known for."

Ginny ended up in a room with Sally and two other girls. After shouting goodnight to a pouting Megan, Ginny entered her dorm, groaning a bit at the other girls expectant looks. Guess she was on for a night of socializing. Just terrific. Tom's voice called to her from her trunk, _"Don't worry,"_ she could hear him saying. _"I'm here and soon we will show those killers why no one should dare to mess with Ginny Weasley."_


End file.
